7 Toxic Thoughts You Need to Stop Now (If You Want to Succeed)

4. Fearful of mistakes and failure.

Let’s start with some truth: everyone makes mistakes. Everyone has failed at something, has had to abandon a project, has had a venture backfire. It happens to us all. But it becomes a problem when stress is the norm, when you feel you can’t recover or that you’re irretrievably stuck. Remember, you have the power to shape your future, and you control the direction of your thoughts. Failure is not falling down; failure is staying down and not getting up.

5. Distressed about lacking confidence.

Everyone feels lack of confidence at times–it’s just that some are better at hiding it than others. The more troubled you are by it the more of a problem it will become. Concentrate on the skills and abilities you have and not those you lack, and continuously push yourself forward. Once you know you’re moving in the right direction, keep your momentum going.

6. Apprehensive about other people’s opinions.

Disagreement and even conflict don’t have to be a source of anxiety. Accept constructive criticism and ignore negativity. People’s opinions do matter, but at the end of the day, the best person you can rely on is yourself. So trust yourself more and give your instinct permission to kick in and help you out when you need it most.

7. Shameful of past failures.

If you think of failure as something bad it will be harder for you to succeed, because failure is integral part of success. No matter how many times you fail, don’t allow it to become a source of shame. All the ideas that don’t work are stepping stones to the idea that does. Failure is not fatal and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

One of the best things you can do for yourself is to learn to stop spinning your wheels with ineffective thinking. Govern your thinking and success will be that much easier to attain.